Japanese Tunnel @ Davao and @ the airport

I think J was not familiar with the directions to the next destination which i gather from the convesation between him and B , had something to do with Japan and maybe a tea garden, well, turn out I was 50% correct, it was a Japanese Tunnel that we were looking for.

We saw the entrance and headed towards it only to be stopped by the guard who asked us to pay the entrance fee. We waited in the shade while B went to the ticket counter , entrance fee was Peso 50 per pax. We were later joined by a tour guide. We walked passed the statues of two Japanese soldiers and before the entrance of the tunnel, we were greeted by the statue of a kimono clad Japanese lady. In the beginning of the tour, the guide spoke in Tagalog and B had to do the translation so that I know what was going on , then after a while the guide spoke in English. It was nice and cool inside the tunnel, much better than the heat outside. The tunnel was quite wide and not crampy at all – i think maybe i was comparing it to the Cu Chi Tunnel in Vietnam. We could walk comfortably and this was when B told me that sometimes he can see ‘things’..Oh…now he tells me..

The guide pointed to a small area , maybe about 3 feet by 3 feet and at that time, this might held 6 prisoners. HUH ? there is not enough space to stand yet this is where the prisoners were held ( no. there is no luxury of having a flush toilet ).

Extraced from the website ,http://www.davaoboard.com/japanese-tunnel.phpthere are actually several of these tunnels in the various diversion roads all over Davao, and the reason for this is that during WWII, the Japanese found the use of tunnels as an effective means of transporting their equipment and mobilizing their forces, as it made it for difficult for the Americans to locate them.

We made a few stops to checked out the area that served as the communication centre, a shrine complete with the statue of the Budha, offices, stores etc .

The tunnel is said to be about 300 feet, so, it was only a short little tour and we were out in the sun again and waved sayonara to kimono lady. And Phewww..i am glad that B didn’t see any ‘thing’ while we were in that tunnel..

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Finally, it was the end of my trip to the Philippines, i flew from Davao to Manila and then Manila back to KL. At the Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport , there was a small chapel – a refuge for the nervous travelers ? This did have a calming effect on me..I spotted this too…Hari Raya Coffee Shop..hmm..i wonder do they serve lemang and do they celebrate Hari Raya everyday?